Beloit district reports stronger classroom use of Eureka Math Squared and Imagine Math; recommends renewals

Math department leaders for the Beloit School District told the Teaching, Learning, Equity & Pupil Services Committee on Jan. 14 that classroom use of the newly adopted Eureka Math Squared core curriculum and the supplemental program Imagine Math has increased, and they recommended the board plan to renew both products when those contracts next come up.

Dr. Kelly Growerud, who led the presentation alongside Meredith Falkabbage, said the district has focused on three research-backed priorities — building belonging, improving consistency, and developing curricular coherence — to change math outcomes.

Growerud said teachers moved through implementation stages last year from awareness to experimenting, and a majority of classrooms are now using the materials with fidelity. "Sixty-five percent of the classrooms that we've been in this year would be in that implementing bucket," she said. She also credited instructional coaching and peer lesson study for helping teachers learn to use the materials and to pace middle-school lessons that the presenters described as "packed." Meredith Falkabbage added that coaching is supported by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction as a best practice and that local implementation data show the value of coaching work.

The district also discussed student-facing data from Imagine Math. Growerud said Imagine Math usage goals are 45 minutes per week and two lessons passed per week; current district averages are about 60 minutes per week and three lessons passed per week. "Our schools are doing a very good job of finding the tools that work and putting them in for implementation," she said, pointing to charted increases in minutes and lessons passed. The presenters said internal analyses show Imagine Math use is positively associated with district assessment gains (MAP and Forward), though Growerud did not present the underlying statistical tables at length during the meeting.

To improve coherence, Growerud said coaches have mapped tier‑2 intervention pathways to upcoming core units so interventions teach prerequisite skills before students encounter them in the classroom. The department also described development of extension activities (ACT tasks, games, problem‑based units) that teachers can use when students advance quickly through the core modules.

The presenters asked the committee to expect a future recommendation that the board approve renewal of Eureka Math Squared and Imagine Math in the 2026–27 school year and requested continued investment in coaching and professional learning time.

Committee members praised visible increases in student engagement, stronger use of academic vocabulary, and the department's use of student voice during the initial adoption. Several board members said they supported the planned renewals and ongoing coaching support.

Growerud closed by saying that it will take a few more years to see those instructional changes reflected in state test results.

Ending: The committee received the update as an information item and did not take a separate vote on curriculum renewal at this meeting. District staff recommended the board consider formal renewals in the 2026–27 adoption cycle.